


Unarmored

by ginger_mosaic



Category: Loki: Agent of Asgard, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616
Genre: Doom Device, F/M, Friends With Benefits, Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Humor, Illusions, Implied Relationships, Kidnapping, Loki Does What He Wants, Nudity, One Night Stands, Platonic Relationships, hilarious nudity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-10
Updated: 2015-04-10
Packaged: 2018-03-22 03:40:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3713539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ginger_mosaic/pseuds/ginger_mosaic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just because Verity is a “trusted ally” of Latveria doesn’t mean that Latveria is necessarily a trusted ally of hers. Being friends with Loki has its ups and downs, and Verity is slowly discovering what it means to be sucked into a world of heroes and villains.</p><p>She is never doing kissing with Loki again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unarmored

Naturally, the first time Verity slept with Loki, he woke her by throwing her bodily out of the bed. Through her half-conscious daze she managed to feel indignant and, actually, a little hurt. Perhaps she shouldn’t; Loki was as capricious as they came.

She landed on the floor and hissed against the pain blooming on her hip, which startled her into true consciousness. Then her anger surfaced from her daze. “What the fuck, Loki!” she spat. Because capricious or not, he claimed that she was his best friend, and you didn’t just throw best friends out of bed.

Then Verity cried out as Loki leapt at her. “Get down!” he shouted. He tackled her, his weight knocking the wind out of her, and she screamed when the apartment wall exploded.

Loki’s body shielded her from most of the debris, but Verity still felt concrete and glass flying past her ankles. She drew her knees up to her chest, her bare feet hovering over the glass-covered carpet, and before she could ask Loki if he was all right, he stood up and turned to face the destroyed wall.

“Doom!”

“Pardon the intrusion,” said a deep, metallic voice, and Doctor Doom floated casually through the jagged hole in the wall.

“In polite society, it’s customary to knock first,” Loki growled.

Doom turned to look at the exposed bricks of the outside wall. “Doom thought he had.”

While Doom’s back was turned, Loki pulled Gram out of the air and leapt up to slash at him. The armor sparked as the blade sliced into it and the Doombot collapsed. Loki threw it aside only for two more Doombots to fly into the room. One of them blasted Loki with an energy shot, throwing him backwards. Verity ducked by the bed and Loki hit the wall behind her with a grunt. He fell forward onto his knees, still clutching Gram in one hand. He got to his feet quickly and lashed out with Gram again, but the advancing Doombot evaded the slash and grabbed Loki by the throat to slam him against the wall again.

It was all happening so fast that Verity hardly had time to react, but she shook off her shock and ran forward to pull at the Doombot’s arm. It swatted her to the side and she fell into the nightstand, but her distracting move gave Loki an opening to get both feet between himself and the bot. He kicked it across the room into the second one and followed it with Gram. Loki stabbed at the bots with his sword, but before he could reach them, a fourth Doombot flew through the wall and jammed a device resembling a taser into Loki’s side.

“No!” Verity cried, jumping over the bed. Loki convulsed in the Doombot’s grip and then the bot released him and he fell. Verity caught him, falling backwards onto the bed. She scrambled out from beneath him—he was _terribly_ heavy—and shook him. “Loki! Loki!”

“My apologies,” said the Doombot with Doom’s distorted voice. “Doom was unaware that you were intimate. Doom did not mean to catch you in such a vulnerable state.”

Verity stared up at the bot, wondering in what possible way _sleeping_ was not a vulnerable state, and then she looked down at herself and gasped. She grabbed a blanket and clutched it to her chest, covering Loki as well in the process. His head lay in her lap and he wasn’t responding.

“What did you do?” she demanded.

“Just a mild shock, for an Asgardian,” said Doom. “He should not be unconscious for long. Which is why we must make haste. Doom will give you a moment to dress, and then we must go.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” she snapped. “You attacked us! While we were asleep!”

“You are wasting time arguing,” said Doom. “You will come with Doom, with or without clothing.”

Verity leveled a glare at him. Doom’s mask stared back impassively, and Verity slowly backed off the bed, keeping herself covered by the blanket, without taking her eyes off the bots. She groped around on the floor blindly for her glasses and clothes and cursed when she only found wall debris. She had to look away to find her things and quickly dressed underneath the blanket. She was missing a sock and when she checked under the bed, her fingers brushed the hilt of one of Loki’s daggers. She glanced at the Doombots, two of whom were watching her and one of whom was gathering Loki in its arms. Verity quickly slipped the knife into her boot while still under the blanket and stood.

“What do you want?” she demanded, feeling somewhat braver now that she was fully clothed.

“Doom requires your services, Ms. Willis,” said the Doombot nearest the outside wall.

“What about him?” she asked, pointing to Loki, who was lying unconscious, head thrown back and throat (and, well, everything) exposed, in a Doombot’s arms.

“Doom is sure we will find a use for him,” said Doom. The Doombot holding Loki moved towards the hole and another stepped towards Verity. She took a step back.

“Wait.” She grabbed a dark green sheet from the bed and sidled past the Doombot to throw the sheet over Loki. Once she had tucked it around him to secure it, she turned to the Doombot nearest the hole. “Okay.”

The Doombot nodded and flew out of the apartment. The Loki-burdened bot followed and Verity watched them, confused, until the third Doombot grabbed her from behind and lifted her up to drape her over its shoulder. She protested, but the Doombot didn’t respond and flew out of the apartment and into the dark early morning sky.

 

Loki groaned and shifted under the bed sheet, and Verity scooted a little closer on the floor to wait. He had still been out cold when Doom left them in the empty room. Verity guessed it was some sort of holding cell, regardless of its appearance. The walls were wooden paneling and the floor was covered with a dark woven rug, but there were no doors or furniture, though the depressions in the rug told Verity there used to be at least a table and some heavy chairs. Doom had dropped Loki unceremoniously face down on the floor and left Verity with him, claiming he had “other business to attend to before we can complete our exchange,” whatever that meant. That had been nearly an hour ago and Verity had to occupy herself with watching Loki for signs of waking and wondering what Doom wanted.

She couldn’t think of anything good.

Loki pushed himself up, curling on the side that had been tasered, and lifted his head. “Ugh… What?” His eyes found Verity and he frowned, bleary-eyed. “Verity? Where are we?”

“Doom abducted us,” she told him. “We’re at the Latverian embassy.”

“Why?”

“He said he ‘requires my services.’”

“What does that mean?”

“No idea.”

Loki groaned and slowly sat up. “Abduction?” he murmured. “Classy.” He reached out and grabbed Verity’s wrist, closing his eyes and rubbing his forehead with his other hand. “Elsewhere,” he said, but nothing happened.

Verity grimaced. “Loki—”

“Elsewhere,” he tried again, and then he opened his eyes and finally noticed the metal bracelets on his wrists. “Damn it,” he spat. “Magic dampeners.”

“I think Doom put them on while we were flying,” said Verity.

“Very likely. What an asshole.” Loki stood, letting the sheet fall away, and looked around the room. “Where is he?”

“He left. Said he had business, about an hour ago.”

“He’ll be back soon, then,” said Loki, starting to wander around the room. It didn’t seem to bother him at all that he was naked. He went to the edge of the rug and lifted it with a foot, then started around the perimeter of the room. “It’s not like him to keep a guest waiting.”

“What do we do?” asked Verity. There had been a door, but it disappeared when Doom left. Now the wall was just a wall. She had checked; there was no visible seam.

Loki seemed to find it, though, because he stopped where the wall had opened and examined it, running his hands along where the seam might have been if it were visible. “I don’t suppose you’re seeing anything I’m not?” he asked.

Verity shook her head. “That’s where the door _was_ , but…”

“When is a door not a door?” muttered Loki. Verity had no idea what that meant. “So how about this chair?” he asked, grabbing onto empty air next to the not-door at about waist level. “Is this real?”

Verity frowned and Loki’s face broke into a grin.

“Just kidding. There’s not really a chair.”

“Obviously.” Verity sighed. “We’re stuck, aren’t we?”

“No, no,” said Loki, resuming his turn about the room. “There hasn’t been a cell that can hold me yet, Verity. We’ll figure this out.”

“Even if we don’t, someone is bound to notice the hole in your apartment,” said Verity. “They’ll come looking for you.”

“Ah.” Loki winced. “Not necessarily.”

Verity raised an eyebrow. “What, you think the Avengers won’t come just because it’s _you_?”

“I think the Avengers won’t know it’s _me_ they would be coming for,” he said, and then when Verity frowned again, he elaborated: “I have a compulsion spell around the apartment. Anyone without my express invitation will not recognize the apartment or the things inside as mine. I got the idea from Harry Potter,” he added with a proud grin, as though that should mean something to Verity. “Seems Doom found a crack in my defenses, though.”

“What about Thor?” she asked.

“Thor would recognize it,” said Loki, nodding. “Regardless, I also rigged the apartment to repair itself in the event of… involuntary demolition. It’s such a terrible hassle to deal with the landlord and contractors constantly when one is always being thrown through one wall or the other.”

“So no one even knows Doom kidnapped us,” said Verity, feeling hope drain out of her.

“Well, it’s possible someone saw him flying around with two hostages…”

“So we’re stuck.”

“No, no…”

Verity sighed and hugged her knees. “I’m never doing kissing with you again.”

Loki turned to face her with his hands on his hips and raised an eyebrow. “Why do you keep saying it like that?”

Verity shook her head. “Never mind.”

“Come on, it wasn’t that bad,” said Loki, strolling back to where she sat in the center of the room. “Sure, we’ve come to the climax that is being kidnapped, as all sexual adventures inevitably end, but as I recall,” he continued with a lecherous grin as he dropped back down onto the sheet next to Verity, “we managed to come to a couple other climaxes beforehand.”

Verity reached over to shove him and he laughed.

“Now,” said Loki, hunching forward to examine his cuffs again, “do you happen to have a hairpin or something else sharpish?”

“No hairpin,” she said, unzipping her boot and carefully pulling out the hidden blade. “But I do have this knife.”

Loki blinked at the dagger in her hand and then grinned at her and took it.

“See, this is why you’re my best friend,” he said, unsheathing the blade and turning it to lay dull side in the crook of his thumb and forefinger, holding it like a pen. “You’re always on top of things. And if you’re serious, then it’s all right if you don’t want to be on top of _me_ anymore,” he added. “Or on bottom.”

Verity snorted. “I think it was probably a one-time thing.”

“All right,” he said, carefully scratching something into the inside rim of the left bracelet. He paused to grin at her. “But we had fun, didn’t we?”

She smirked, an answer that seemed to satisfy him. He went back to carving the metal, humming to himself.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“I can’t use magic,” he said, “but some runes have a magic of their own. I’m carving in Runes of Breaking. Once the circle is complete, the runes activate and will break the cuff.” He rotated the bracelet to continue carving. “Then we can get out of here.”

“What if Doom comes back before you finish?”

“If he didn’t want me to finish, then he would have interrupted already.” Loki paused and tilted his head thoughtfully. “There’s a sex joke in there somewhere,” he mused, and then shook his head. “Anyway, he probably wants to see if his new toys will work.”

Verity frowned. “What?”

“He’s almost definitely watching us,” said Loki. “Wave hi to the cameras, Verity.”

She glanced around the room and hugged her knees closer again. She didn’t like the idea of being watched. It meant they couldn’t even come up with a plan without Doom knowing it.

“So if he’s not afraid of you breaking it right now,” she said slowly, “at least with runes, then doesn’t that mean he’s taken precautions against outside magic as well?”

“Perhaps.”

“So what if he made them so they bounce whatever spell back and it just breaks your wrist?” she whispered.

Loki froze and then cleared his throat. “Well,” he said with a hoarse laugh, resuming his work, “then we’ll know how it works, won’t we?” He hesitated and then switched hands to start a ring of runes on his right.

“Loki…”

“I’ll heal. Besides, if I don’t escape, Doom will probably break more than just my wrists,” he added in a tone that Verity was sure he meant to be joking, but the horrific truth in it destroyed any amusement _anyone_ might have gotten from it.

“ _What?_ ”

“Shit,” muttered Loki, and he looked up from the cuff. “That’s not—Don’t worry—”

“What do you mean?” Her voice sounded shrill to her own ears.

“Nothing! Just… You know Doom, he’s a psycho,” said Loki, chuckling nervously. “He’s been after the secret to immortality for a while. Thinks if he cuts Asgardians up enough times, he can find it in our DNA. Seriously, _everyone_ knows the legend of Idunn’s apples,” he added, rolling his eyes, “but I guess _some_ people don’t _read_.”

Verity’s stomach churned. “He’s going to cut you up?”

“No, of course not,” said Loki, which registered as a lie until he qualified it with, “not if I get out of these cuffs.”

“Oh God…”

“You might be more concerned for yourself,” Loki pointed out, glancing up at her to raise his eyebrows. “I dread learning what he means by ‘services.’”

“Probably my power, right?” said Verity, biting her lip. “Though if that’s the case, I don’t see why he couldn’t have _called_ …”

“That would _definitely_ put you on the terrorist watch list,” said Loki. Then he took a deep breath and switched the knife to his right hand again. “Okay, last rune.”

Verity leaned forward to watch. She hoped she was wrong—she didn’t know the rules of magic, but Loki hadn’t brushed off her warning, so she knew it was at least possible for a magic-repelling object to reflect a spell back at its caster.

Loki met her eyes, his expression suddenly serious. “Whatever happens, Verity,” he said gravely, “everything is going to be all right. Okay?”

Verity chewed her lip. “Okay,” she said uncertainly.

“ _Whatever_ happens,” he insisted, holding her gaze. She frowned and tilted her head, wondering what message he was trying to convey, and then she nodded.

“Okay.”

Loki focused back on the bracelet on his left wrist, let out a heavy breath, and scratched in the last rune.

Nothing happened. At least, nothing Verity could see.

“Damn it!” shouted Loki, making her jump. He slammed the cuff on the floor several times. “Break, damn you!”

“Loki—”

“Maybe it has to be both,” he said, quickly scratching into the right cuff.

There was a muted boom and Verity whirled around in time to see the wooden panels slide to the side. She quickly got to her feet and felt Loki slip the knife into her back pocket.

Doctor Doom stepped into the room, flanked by two Doombots, and the panels closed behind them. “Doom apologizes for making you wait,” said Doom. “We may now conduct our business.”

“If you wanted to do business, you should have just _asked_ ,” snapped Verity. “Didn’t you say Latveria was indebted to _me_? Would it be too much to ask for you to leave me alone?”

“Doom always repays his debts,” said Doom.

“By which you mean only when it’s beneficial to you,” retorted Verity, crossing her arms.

Loki let out a low whistle behind her. “She’s got you there, Victor.”

Doom turned his attention to Loki.  “We were once allies, Loki,” he said. “Would you not consider—”

“It was one date, Victor, get over it,” said Loki. “And last time we met, you locked me in a time bubble. You said you had business with Verity?”

“Yes. Doom requires the use of your power,” Doom told her.

“Again, you could have called—”

“Make an appointment with her secretary, perhaps,” Loki suggested.

“You misunderstand,” said Doom. “A simple phone call would not have sufficed. You see, it is not a matter of asking for your help. Doom wants you to give your power to me.”

Verity stared at him. “What?”

“So you can see why Doom needed to bring you here,” said Doom. “You would not have consented otherwise. And now you can give me your power of your own free will, without either of us worrying about whether you will agree to meet with Doom in the first place.”

Verity continued to stare at him, stunned by his twisted logic.

“Told you,” said Loki beside her. “Total psycho.”

“No,” said Verity. “You can’t have my power. I don’t even know how I _could_ give it to you, but I wouldn’t anyway.”

“Doom has a method to transfer your power,” said Doom. “And Doom believes you will decide to cooperate once he explains his terms.”

“No,” said Verity firmly at the same time Loki asked curiously, “Which are?” She elbowed him and he shrugged with a sheepish smile.

“Doom will give you 200,000 American dollars,” said Doom.

“No,” said Verity again, incredulous that Doom though he could _buy_ her.

“But more importantly, perhaps,” Doom continued, “Doom will let Loki go.”

Verity froze and Loki sighed.

“Victor…” said Loki, exasperated.

“It is quite fortunate that you are unarmored,” said Doom. “That pesky Asgardian armor is a trial to remove.”

“Verity,” warned Loki, switching tack.

“You wouldn’t,” said Verity. Her hands shook at her sides and her stomach lurched again.

Doom gestured to his bots and they moved forward, gliding across the floor.

“No!” Verity jumped between the bots and Loki, reaching behind her to hold onto him. “No—Stay away!”

“Verity,” Loki hissed.

“Just come with me, Ms. Willis,” said Doom, extending his hand, “and no harm will befall your friend.”

“How long will you take it for?” she asked, and Loki hissed her name again, but she only tightened her grip on his hip. God, he was still naked. Vulnerable. Where was the sheet? It had disappeared.

“You misunderstand,” said Doom. “The transfer is permanent.”

“It’s not worth it,” whispered Loki.

“I can’t,” she said, her lip quivering. “I can’t let you…”

“Doom will not take it from you unwillingly,” said Doom. “It would be better if you agree to my terms.”

Yeah, like _this_ would be willingly. He was forcing her hand. Verity couldn’t see any way out of this, not if Loki was cut off from his access to magic and no one knew they were even here. If she refused, he would hurt Loki, and god strength and fasting healing or not, Verity couldn’t stand the thought of Loki getting hurt. She couldn’t allow herself to be the _reason_ for him getting hurt.

“Okay,” she said.

Loki threw up his hands. “You would positively _cave_ under torture, Verity. For fuck’s sake…”

“But you will give me your word that you’ll let us both go as soon as it’s done,” she warned Doom, ignoring Loki and the growing pit of anxiety in her stomach.

Doom nodded. “Of course. Please come this way.” He turned and the Doombots advanced again, moving too quickly for Verity to react. Loki smacked one of them away, but the second one grabbed his arm and simultaneously pushed Verity to the side.

“Hey! What are you doing?” she cried, stumbling back. The two Doombots converged on Loki, who protested and struggled against their robotic grips.

“Doom will hold onto our mutual friend here as collateral,” said Doom. “Until our deal is complete. Doom wouldn’t want you to back out at the last minute.”

Verity clenched her fists. “No. He stays with me, or the deal’s off.”

“You are not in a position to make demands, Ms. Willis,” said Doom, lowering his chin as though to glare at her.

“Victor, let’s talk about this,” said Loki, still trying to break the bots’ holds.

“And _you_ , old friend, have nothing to bargain with,” said Doom.

“A second date?”

Doom waved his hand dismissively and the bots swept past Verity, carrying Loki between them, his toes just brushing the rug.

“Wait!” she cried. “Stop!”

Loki glanced over his shoulder at her. “Whatever happens, Verity,” he said sharply.

Verity stopped, her eyes wide. “Okay,” she said quietly.

The wood panels opened again and the Doombots disappeared through the door with Loki.

“Come,” said Doom, beckoning with a hand. “But first, please give me that knife.”

Verity glared at him and pulled the knife from her back pocket. She walked to him and placed it in Doom’s outstretched hand. He stowed it somewhere under his cloak and turned to lead her out of the holding cell.

“This way,” he commanded.

 

The lab to which he brought her was filled with shelves and tables covered in strange devices and electronic pieces. Verity only felt a little relieved that there was no medical equipment. He wouldn’t be _cutting_ into her. She shook and clenched her fists to try to stop. She wished Loki was here. If he had a plan (and he always did), Verity had no idea what it was or how she could help. All she had was his assurance that everything would be all right, and while that statement itself certainly registered as truth, there was no way to know if that was only due to overconfidence or if Loki knew something she did not. All Verity could do was stall Doom for as long as possible and hope Loki’s plan would unfold quickly.

Doom walked over to the computers against the wall and began to type. “Please have a seat. This won’t take very long, but it needs some calibration.”

There were some swivel chairs, but Verity did not want to relax. “Will it hurt?” she asked, hugging herself.

“It may sting a little,” said Doom. “Not unlike a mild bee sting. But it will be momentary. You may also experience some dizziness.”

“You’ve tested it?”

“Yes. On an Inhuman and a mutant, both of little consequence. You are neither, so Doom must calibrate it to work on a human.”

Verity tried and failed to hide her disgust, but Doom wasn’t facing her to see her sneer anyway. “How does it work?”

Doom glanced over his shoulder at her and then turned to face her. “Quite right,” he said after a moment. “Doom cannot ask you to participate without knowing all the facts. Especially as the effects are permanent.” He walked to a table and opened a box from which many wires ran to the computer. He moved the box so that Verity could see what was inside. It was a cylindrical device made of metal, almost resembling a battery and about the width of Verity’s arm.

“It will seek out the source of your power,” said Doom, “and then remove the power itself. For mutants, that means altering the DNA and copying the specific gene that determines their power.”

“That sounds… scientifically impossible,” said Verity skeptically.

“Yes, well, a bit of transference magic helps it along,” said Doom. “It will copy the nature of your power—the ability to discern truth from lies—and alter my DNA to include this ability.”

“Has…” Verity was almost afraid to ask. “Has anyone… died during your tests?”

“Every experiment has its casualties.”

So, yes.

Doom turned away to the computers again, and the moment his back was to her, Verity felt something touch her hand. She started and Loki stepped into her peripheral vision with a finger to his lips. He shoved something into her fist and she opened her hand and looked down at the scrap of paper.

 _Trust me_.

Verity crumpled the note in her fist again and glanced at Doom. He was still working on the computer.

“Doom realizes you must be nervous,” said Doom suddenly, making Verity jump again. “So Doom will remind you why you’re doing this.” A large screen on the wall lit up and revealed a video feed with a time stamp from another lab. The lab was empty except for three Doombots standing around a table with straps fastened across it. Verity frowned, puzzled, and glanced to the side at Loki. _Double_ , he mouthed, gesturing with a rotation of his finger that she should play along.

“D-don’t,” she stammered, and Loki grinned and gave her a thumbs up, and then he moved to stand next to Doom, peering over the madman’s shoulder.

“Doom said he will not be harmed while we are conducting our affairs,” said Doom. Loki glanced over his shoulder to smirk at Verity and roll his eyes, and he mouthed Doom’s words along with the dictator: “I am a man of my word.” Verity bit her lip to stifle a smile.

Loki stepped to the side to examine the device in the box and then gestured to Verity again. _Turn him around_ , he said. _Keep him talking_.

“So—So…” Verity frantically tried to think of a question. “So why do you want _my_ power?”

Doom did indeed turn around, and Verity flinched as his rotation put Loki directly in his line of sight, but his eyes passed right over Loki and he faced Verity.

“A fair question,” said Doom. “Doom will tell you.”

As Doom spoke, Verity had to work very hard to keep a straight face and looked worried rather than amused as Loki mimed behind the dictator. Loki held up his fingers as rabbit ears over the man’s hood and made faces, and then he pretended to floss Doom’s ears. When Verity covered her mouth with her hand to conceal a smile, Loki stopped and turned back to the power-transfer device. Verity covered by glancing at the video feed and away again.

“Doom needs it immediately, because Latveria will enter trade negotiations with a country in the Middle East, and Doom would like to know for certain if he is being cheated or lied to,” Doom was explaining. “But aside from that, Doom wants your power simply because it is a valuable one and you are not using it.”

“I’m friends with Loki,” Verity pointed out. “I use it every day.”

Loki paused to stick his tongue out at her and then he pulled the green bed sheet seemingly out of the air. He used a corner of it to pick the device out of its box and then quickly wrapped it up. Then he slipped it away as though into a pocket, though to Verity’s eyes the parcel simply disappeared. He had no pockets; he was still naked.

“There is a difference between passively using it and utilizing it,” said Doom. “You could do so much with your power. But you lack ambition, Ms. Willis, a common ailment of young women your age. And so Doom can put it to better use.”

“Better is subjective,” muttered Verity. Loki held up the sign for “OK” and strolled past Doom, stopping only to lift Doom’s cape and retrieve his knife. Once he was by Verity’s side again, he wrapped a hand around her wrist.

“Indeed,” agreed Doom. “But you need no longer worry about it. Soon, you will—” He froze in the middle of his turn, his eyes catching on the empty box. “What?” he growled.

Suddenly Loki laughed loudly and with incredibly dramatic triumph. Doom whirled around, his cape swirling, and Verity knew from the mad wideness of his eyes behind his mask that Loki was no longer invisible.

“Doom, you fool!” said Loki. “You thought you could hold me? Well think again! I am Loki and I will not be outfoxed. You have been Loki’d!” Then he threw back his head and laughed.

Doom surged forward, and then there was a bright flash of green light and when Verity’s eyes cleared, she and Loki were standing in an alley. Loki’s maniacal laughter, left over from his performance in Doom’s lab, dissolved into delighted giggles, and he released Verity’s arm to double over with the force of them.

“‘You have been Loki’d’?” said Verity, but she was grinning. “Really?”

“Did you see the look on his face?” Loki choked through his giggles.

“Well, he was wearing a mask, so…”

Loki laughed and straightened up, snorting in his attempts to get himself under control.

Verity crossed her arms against the bitter morning cold and glanced around the alley. Dawn had broken since they had entered Doom’s lair, but the sun had not yet burned the mist away, and Verity was only wearing a shirt and jeans. “So how long did it really take you to break those cuffs?” she asked.

“Oh, I got it the first time,” said Loki. “I only pretended they hadn’t broken. Though I did have to wait to make a double until I left Doom’s sights. The bots are easier to trick.”

Verity scowled, a little embarrassed that his performance with the cuffs had fooled her. “I was really worried about you, you know.”

He smirked and raised an eyebrow. “I told you everything would be fine.”

“Yeah, but,” she said and gestured to him, “you were— _are_ —naked, and you said—”

“Verity, my people fight naked all the time,” Loki told her, amusement making his eyes glitter. “Armor is a luxury. And I could have taken those two bots easily—he would have to knock me out again to strap me to any table—but I wanted to find out exactly what Doom was planning. And aren’t you glad we did?” he added brightly. “Now we know what he’s up to.”

Verity fought a blush. She had forgotten, in her own defenseless state, that Loki was not actually all that vulnerable, with or without clothes on. As he proved by getting them out of Doom’s clutches unscathed, with hardly a scrap of cloth to his name. Hell, he had not even hesitated to pick up his sword before looking for a shield.

“Sorry,” she muttered, wondering if he was offended that she thought he was weaker than he really was. _She_ would be; Verity didn’t like to be underestimated. “I just don’t like when people threaten my friends.”

Loki smiled gently. “Thanks, Verity,” he said quietly after a moment. “You did well back there, you know. I mean,” he added, shrugging, “I still think you would do poorly under direct torture, but your whole _No don’t hurt my friends_ act worked out anyway.”

“It wasn’t an act.”

Loki smiled again. “In any case, it looks like I’ll have to improve the wards on my apartment. I only just woke up to the alarm before he burst through. I could do your place, too, if you want. So at least one person would know if you went missing.”

“Maybe,” said Verity. “But I don’t think that will stop Doom.”

“Meh. It sounded like he was in a hurry.” Loki shrugged again. “He’ll probably find another way to manipulate his future business partners. I think you’re in the clear.”

“Still.” Verity bit her lip and a thought occurred to her. “We should tell the Avengers,” she blurted.

Loki’s eyes widened. “What?” he said, startled.

“If Doom has a device like that, they should know,” she insisted.

“But…” He pouted, sticking his lower lip out.

“It would make me more comfortable if they knew,” she said.

Loki huffed and crossed his arms. “You think I can’t protect you myself?”

“It’s not me I’m worried about. They should be warned about what Doom is capable of,” she said firmly.

Loki scoffed petulantly and began to plead with his eyes, but Verity stood firm. She was positive that this would be the best course of action. Finally, Loki sighed.

“Fine,” he whined. He started toward the mouth of the alley, slumping his shoulders, and Verity grabbed his arm.

“What are you doing?” she hissed. “You don’t have any clothes on!”

Loki blinked and looked down at himself, as though he had forgotten. Then he smirked at her. “Only to your truth-seeing eyes, Verity.”

Verity rolled her eyes, but she released his arm and watched as he walked out of the alley. It was still early morning, but there were people walking on the street, and Verity didn’t want to take the chance of standing next to a naked man on the streets of New York, no matter what Loki said. It was still very difficult to believe that not everyone could see through this type of illusion, even after a lifetime of seeing what others did not. When no one on the street screamed, Verity followed Loki out of the alley.

They were in Loki’s neighborhood, far from the Latverian embassy and actually not too far from Avengers Tower. As they walked down the street, Loki kept trying to stall and distract her, suggesting they stop for coffee or at least breakfast, but Verity wasn’t going to give him the chance to change her mind. After two blocks of his complaints, Verity hailed a taxi.

“You’re serious, aren’t you?” said Loki, balking at the taxi door.

“Get in,” Verity ordered, and he stared at her blankly before sliding in.

The taxi brought them right to the doors of Avengers Tower, but from there, Verity did not know what to do. She couldn’t just walk in and ask to speak with the Avengers, could she?

Loki appeared to think otherwise. After handing some illusion-cash to the taxi driver (Verity felt terrible, but it couldn’t be helped), he didn’t hesitate to walk up the steps to the sliding glass doors. Verity hurried to catch up with him, still doubting that this would work.

“You couldn’t have teleported us inside or something?” she asked, annoyed.

“That would be _illegal_ ,” said Loki, holding the door open for her. “The top floors are technically private property.”

Verity snorted. “Since when do you care if something is illegal? How are we supposed to meet with them?”

Loki shrugged. “They will come. They can’t ignore _me_. I’m Loki.”

“You’re really high on yourself today.”

“I got laid last night,” he said, not even bothering to keep his voice down as he strolled casually across the lobby to the reception desk. The whole place looked like a typical office building, complete with brochures for tours. “I’m still riding that high, on top of all the excitement from this morning. Hello,” he added to the receptionist without skipping a beat. He leaned against the counter. “We would like to see the Avengers, please.”

The receptionist’s smile was forced. Verity supposed she probably dealt with presumptuous visitors all the time. “I’m sorry, the Avengers are unavailable for civilian visitors. You can fill out this form if—”

“No, no, no,” said Loki, pushing the paper back across the counter to her. “We don’t need an appointment. You see, I am Loki.”

The reception stared at him blankly and Verity pinched the bridge of her nose. Loki only smiled brightly and waited.

“Sir—” the receptionist began again, sounding exasperated.

“I’ll take it from here, Rita.”

Verity turned to see a tall blond man standing behind them, his arms crossed over his chest. He was wearing a suit, but Verity would have recognized him anyway; his face was plastered all over newsstands throughout the city nearly every day.

“Ah, good morning, Captain,” said Loki cheerfully.

“What are you doing here, Loki?” asked Captain America. Or Steve Rogers, maybe, since he was in street clothes.

“We have come to report a crime.”

“Why didn’t you just teleport into the tower?”

Loki gasped in mock indignation. “Captain, are you suggesting that I do something _illegal_?”

Rogers rolled his eyes. “Cut it out. Why are you really here?”

Verity stepped up and pushed Loki back. He was _not_ allowed to do the talking anymore. “Doctor Doom kidnapped me. He has a very dangerous device that I wanted to warn you about.”

Rogers raised an eyebrow. “Doom kidnapped you?”

“He wanted my power. He had a device that could transfer someone’s power to him.”

Rogers frowned, glanced at Loki, and after a minute of deliberation, he nodded. “Come with me.” But he pointed at Loki. “ _You_ keep your hands to yourself.”

Loki held up his hands innocently. “Is my brother in?”

“Lucky for you, yes.”

Steve Rogers led them to a private elevator, which he had to open using several sources of ID, including an eye scan, fingerprints, and a badge. A few floors up, he had to repeat the process and announce two guests, “one with status 666.” (“Hey…” Loki complained.) Another few floors up, the elevator did a scan of them, announcing the passengers as “Steve Rogers, Captain America,” “Loki Laufeyson, Norse God of Mischief,” and “unidentified civilian guest.”

“So you must be Verity Willis,” said Rogers, and when Verity’s eyes widened in surprise, he smiled. “Thor told me about you. Seems to think you’re pretty great.”

“How insulting,” Loki sniffed. “Verity is more than just _pretty great_.”

“Really don’t need your endorsement, Loki,” she said.

“You’re getting it anyway,” said Loki. “And be nice to me. Don’t forget that it was _my_ reputation that got you through the door.”

“I wouldn’t brag too much about that reputation of yours, if I were you,” warned Rogers.

“Well, Captain, if it makes you feel any better, if my reputation was more like yours… I’d still brag about it. Endlessly.”

“He’s humble like that,” Verity told Rogers.

“Damn straight,” said Loki. “And handsome, too.”

Rogers actually chuckled at that. The elevator doors opened at last to reveal what looked like a wealthy person’s living room, which, Verity supposed, it was. Four people were waiting in the room, one of whom was Tony Stark, of all people. Another was Thor.

“Ah, Lady Verity,” said Thor, crossing the room to greet her. He took her hands and smiled. “Well met. How are you?”

“As well as can be expected, considering the circumstances.”

“Speaking of circumstances, what is _he_ doing here?” asked Stark, gesturing a thumb at Loki. “I thought we banned you from the tower. Did he break in again?”

“Actually, he used the front door,” said Rogers.

“Like the law-abiding, upstanding citizen I am,” added Loki with a nod. Stark scoffed and Loki continued, “For real! I have no business with you today. I only brought Verity so she could report a kidnapping, attempted extortion, and the existence of a Doom device.”

“A doom device?” said the red-haired woman, raising an eyebrow.

“Ah, excuse me. A slip of the tongue. _Doom’s_ device. Von Doom.”

Stark frowned and crossed his arms, but Thor turned to Verity in concern. “What does my brother mean?”

Verity took a deep breath, aware of all the eyes on her. “Doom kidnapped me early this morning. He brought us to the Latverian embassy and said he wanted my power.”

“Power?” asked a man Verity didn’t recognize. He wore glasses low on his nose and looked tired even though it was nine in the morning.

Verity bit her lip. She didn’t usually share her power, preferring to _not_ freak people out. She also preferred anonymity, but then again, she hung out with _Loki_. Maybe anonymity wasn’t an option anymore.

“I can see through any lie,” she said. “Ever since I can remember.”

Everyone stared at her. She shifted her weight onto her other leg.

“Seriously?” said Stark after a long silence. “And you hang around the Prince of Lies over here?”

“We’re besties,” said Loki cheerfully, much to the confusion of the Avengers. Verity shot Loki a smirk and he grinned.

“So,” said the man with the glasses, which he removed to clean, clearly trying to regain composure, “so Doom wanted your… ability?”

Verity nodded. “He had a device that he believes can permanently transfer a power from one person to another. He was going to use it on me, but we got away before he could.”

“I rescued you,” Loki chimed in. “Don’t leave out that part.”

“Doom tested it on mutants and Inhumans,” Verity continued, ignoring Loki. “So it’s operational. I thought you should know he has something like that.”

“Why would Doom want to see through lies?” asked the bespectacled man.

“Seems useful,” said the red-haired woman with a shrug.

“I’m, ah, not so sure Verity was Doom’s final target,” said Loki, and when everyone finally turned to look at him, he winced and hesitated before continuing. “He said he’d tested it on mutants and Inhumans. No one else. I think… Ah…” He glanced at Verity apologetically. “I think you may have been his human test subject.”

Verity’s stomach lurched. He was right. That was entirely possible. Doom had very carefully not lied about reasons—he certainly did want and could use her power—but he had perhaps hidden the _real_ reason, just as Loki had hidden his real purpose for his breaking-and-entering mission.

“And if I were Doom and I had created a device like that,” Loki continued slowly, nervously playing with his fingers, “I would hardly settle on a power like yours. No offense,” he added.

“No, you’re right,” said Verity quickly. This was why she wanted to tell the Avengers about it in the first place.

“All right,” said Stark, “so you’re evil—”

“Am not!” protested Loki hotly.

“—What sort of thing _would_ you go after?” continued Stark.

Loki hesitated. “Well… Doom is ambitious. He would want something more… influential. Like… Like…” He winced again. “A reality warper?”

“I knew it,” said Stark after a beat. “Evil.”

“I’m just saying!” protested Loki. “If he can steal any power, why settle on seeing through lies or having green skin? Why wouldn’t he go after the power to change reality?”

“This is indeed a frightening possibility,” said Thor. “It had not occurred to me that he might cross that line. And stop calling my brother evil, Stark,” he added, crossing his arms. “Loki gives us good counsel today.”

Loki looked relieved, and Stark frowned but said nothing.

“We need to retrieve this device immediately,” said Rogers, looking serious. The other Avengers nodded.

“Well, Loki stole it from Doom, so…” said Verity, turning to him. The Avengers did, too, only to find Loki staring back at them all with a confused frown.

“What? No I didn’t,” he lied.

Verity gave him an exasperated look.

“Loki…” warned Thor.

“What? I don’t have it!” he said, taking a step back as though he was ready to flee.

“You’re _clearly_ lying!” said Verity through clenched teeth. Why was he balking now? “I don’t even need my power to see that.”

“How would you know?” asked Loki curiously, plainly trying to derail the conversation. “Maybe you’re so used to just seeing the truth automatically that without your power, you’d—”

“Where is it?” she demanded.

“I dropped it,” he said stiffly, and Verity groaned in frustration.

“Hand it over,” said Stark, holding out his hand.

Loki drew himself up and set his jaw, glaring at Stark. “No.”

“Loki,” Verity snapped.

“Verity,” he hissed back, “ixnay on the ellingtay Arkstay—”

“We all understand Pig Latin,” said Stark, rolling his eyes.

“Ne lui en révèle pas—”

“I speak French, too!”

“Loki,” said Thor sternly, “give the device to Stark.”

Loki barked out a laugh. “Oh yes, I’m just going to hand it over to the man who is _known_ for abusing dangerous technology. Need I remind you of the cloning—”

“We have discussed that matter thoroughly,” said Thor firmly. “Stark has promised never to trespass upon that ground again.”

“Oh, has he?” snarled Loki. “Care to _verify_ that Stark?” he added, gesturing to Verity.

“Eat a dick, Loki,” retorted Stark.

“Are you volunteering?” Loki snapped back.

“Loki!” shouted Verity and Thor together, Verity in impatience and Thor in scandalized anger. Loki had the grace to look abashed.

“Give it to me,” said Stark. “I don’t trust you with it.”

“The feeling’s mutual,” said Loki.

“Oh yeah? Like _you’re_ not going to use it?”

Loki looked affronted, but Verity could tell he was playing it more than he felt it. “I would _never_ ,” he said, very emphatically and indignantly, “ _use_ it.”

Verity snapped her gaze around to glare at him full-on, partly to express her displeasure and partly to clue in the others that this was _not true_.

“…More than once,” he muttered, avoiding her eyes, and Verity frowned. Only once? That was surprising.

Regardless, he couldn’t keep it. Once was still one time too many.

“Hand it over,” she ordered, her tone conveying that it would be the last time she asked.

Loki glared at her and she glared right back. They engaged in a short battle of exasperated and impatient face-making until Loki sighed and motioned as though he was reaching into a pocket again.

“Whoa,” said Stark. “Did she just get him to shut up and do as he’s told? I like her. Can she join the team? I want her on the team. You want to join our team?”

“She’s already on _my_ team,” said Loki, pulling the sheet-wrapped parcel out of nowhere. “Even though she’s a rotten traitor,” he added, but it was without any heat.

“I’m not on anyone’s team,” Verity clarified. “I’m your friend. I’m not going to let you play with anything dangerous.”

“Like stopping me from putting a fork in the toaster?” he said, smirking.

Verity nodded. “Or getting a bad tattoo.”

Loki chuckled and began to unwrap the sheet from around the device.

“What is that?” asked Stark.

“A bed sheet,” answered Loki.

“No, I mean, why—You know what? Never mind.” Stark shook his head. “Why is Doom’s tech wrapped in a sheet?”

“It was the only thing I had on hand. And I wasn’t sure if simply touching it wouldn’t activate it,” Loki continued before Stark could express the impatience clearly growing on his face. “We didn’t exactly have time to browse the user manual.” He pulled back the sheet to reveal the device and when Stark stepped forward to take it, Loki moved it out of his reach. “What are you going to do with it?” demanded Loki.

“We’ll reverse engineer it,” said Stark. “If Doom made one, he can make another. We can at least try to prepare to reverse the effects if necessary.”

Loki glanced at Verity and she nodded. Stark saw and turned to address Verity directly.

“I’m not going to use it,” said Stark firmly. “ _I_ have principles.”

Loki snorted and Verity would have too, but it made her a little sad, actually, that Stark didn’t believe his own words. So she accepted his honest promise not to use it and refrained from making sarcastic noises.

“Okay,” she said. “Thank you.”

Stark reached for the bundle again and Loki hesitated before finally handing it over. Stark pulled it out of his reach and Loki’s hands dropped to his sides. He looked incredibly disappointed. Verity put her hand on his shoulder and grimaced apologetically. It really was better in the hands of people who could take care of it—and who could thwart Doom’s tech. And Stark promised not to abuse it, so this venture had worked out, as far as Verity was concerned.

The man with the glasses stood next to Stark and examined the device cradled in the sheet. They both questioned Verity briefly and she told them everything Doom had said about the device and what he planned to do with it. Then the other man left with the device to take it to their labs. While the Avengers discussed what to do about Doom, Verity and Loki had a moment to talk.

“Sorry if I thwarted your schemes for world domination,” she said.

Loki laughed softly. “I really just didn’t want it in Stark’s hands. Do you realize what you’ve done?”

“They can stop Doom. It’s not my fault; he started this.”

“And I suppose you didn’t start the fire and it was always burning since the world’s been turning, too?”

“You’re not really mad, are you?”

“Nah,” said Loki, shrugging. “You’re probably right. There are many ways that helping well-intentioned heroes can backfire, but there are even _more_ ways that ignoring ill-intentioned psychos can backfire.”

“He looked really mad.”

“He always looks like that. It’s the brow contours on his mask. And honestly, I’d be mad all the time too if I looked that constipated.”

Verity burst out laughing and clapped a hand over her mouth when the Avengers turned to stare at her.

“Sorry,” said Loki. “Verity just really likes poop jokes.”

Verity slugged his arm and even though it couldn’t have hurt, Loki obligingly flinched. “Shut up!” she said, still laughing. “God, you’re so embarrassing.”

“ _You’re_ the immature one laughing at poop jokes.”

“Well _you’re_ the one walking around butt naked,” she retorted.

Loki’s eyes widened and Verity gasped as she realized what she had just said. The shocked silence of the others was palpable.

“Wait,” said Stark, cutting slowly through the tension like a butter knife. “What?”

“Loki,” said Thor, narrowing his eyes, “you’re not…”

Loki looked around at everyone in the room, his eyes meeting each person’s, looking for an out, and then he shrugged.

“Well,” he said, “ _that_ cat is out of the bag.”

 

**Epilogue: The Aftermath**

 

The door to the lounge opened and Loki walked in wearing gray sweatpants and a Queen t-shirt that seemed to only _just_ fit him. The Avengers had understandably thrown fits when Loki dropped all illusions. Stark had thrown a pillow at Loki for him to cover himself with, and when Loki complained that they took his bed sheet away, Stark called him “Sherlock,” and then Thor steered them both out of the room to get Loki some clothes before a fight could break out.

Steve Rogers and the red-haired woman, whom Rogers kept calling “Nat,” stayed with Verity for a while, grilling her on whether Loki was sexually harassing her and apologizing for his lewd behavior. They were acting like Verity had never _met_ Loki before.

“It’s seriously okay,” she told them. “Nudity is no big deal next to some of the other shit I’ve seen.”

Then Rogers and Nat exchanged a glance and Rogers nervously asked, “So… are you two…?”

“Strictly friends,” said Verity firmly, her tone brooking no argument, looking at them sternly over the top of her glasses. They dropped the subject and eventually left her alone when they were sure she was fine and they had other things to take care of.

“Nice shirt,” she said, glancing up from her book as Loki approached the couch. It was an enormous couch; it could probably seat fifteen people comfortably in front of the wall-sized TV.

Loki looked down at the shirt. “Thanks. It’s Stark’s. I do not intend to return it.” Despite the ample space on the couch, Loki dropped down right next to her. “What’re you reading?”

She closed the book to show him the cover. “Something about airplanes.”

“ _Fascinating_ ,” he drawled.

“Did you get an earful?” she asked, setting the book aside.

Loki nodded. “They certainly don’t like to break with tradition.”

“Where’s your escort?”

He leaned over to whisper in her ear. “Wave hi to the cameras, Verity.”

She snorted. “So are you on house arrest, or what?”

“I didn’t actually break any rules—”

“Except for all the indecent exposure.”

“—and Thor put in a good word for me. I think they also believe you keep me on a tight leash,” he told her.

She groaned. “Now I’m _responsible_ for you?”

“Gotta clean up after me when I piddle.”

Verity shoved him to the side and he laughed.

“But isn’t this nice?” said Loki with a grin. He slung an arm over the top of the couch behind her. “You get to have lunch with the Avengers, and Stark and the good Captain went to parley with Doom on your behalf. All is well.”

“Hmm.” He was right; the Avengers had invited her to stay until they were sure Doom didn’t want her anymore, though she wasn’t sure she would actually stay overnight.

And Loki was safe from Doom’s clutches. Although…

“So who, then?” she asked, looking down and picking at a stray thread on her jeans.

“Hmm?”

“You said you’d only use it once,” she said quietly. “On who?”

“Oh.” A beat, and then Loki withdrew his arm. Verity looked up and he grimaced. “You’re not going to like it.”

Verity smiled sadly. “Try me.”

Loki sighed and played with his fingers. “The highest bidder,” he said at last.

Verity frowned. “What?”

“I don’t have anyone particular in mind—okay, I do, but that’s too tempting and no, just no, not again—but I figure someone, somewhere would be willing, if not eager, to give up their power. There are a lot of people,” he said, finally meeting her eyes, “who don’t want their power, Verity. There was a time when some mutants would have given _anything_ to be ‘cured’—to not kill everyone they touch, to not grow spikes out of their backs in moments of distress, to not have a six-foot tongue—and I’m sure some Inhumans feel the same. I can profit off that, even if I don’t _use_ the unwanted power.” He smiled imploringly, his eyes searching her face for understanding or forgiveness. “Haven’t you ever wanted to be normal?”

Verity looked away and bit her lip. “Sometimes,” she admitted quietly. “Sometimes I think it would be easier. I wouldn’t get tripped up over minor lies. I could enjoy the same things everyone else does. When Doom said it was permanent, I felt… relieved,” she sighed. “But the more I thought about it, the more frightening it seemed. How do you trust someone if you don’t know whether they’re lying or not? How do people _do_ that? I think I’ve lived with this power too long to live without it. I can’t even imagine…”

Loki spoke again after a minute of silence. “We have to take chances. Choose which people to entrust with parts of ourselves.”

“Maybe I wouldn’t be able to do that,” she admitted, and then hesitated. “Sometimes I wonder if that makes me… _not_ human.”

“You’re not _Inhuman_ , if that’s what you mean,” Loki joked.

“I mean philosophically.”

“Well, all you mortals look the same to me.”

Verity elbowed him and he chuckled. She bit her lip thoughtfully, wondering. “What about you?”

Loki looked down and thought for a moment. Then he sighed. “…Yeah. Me too. But only sometimes,” he added sternly. “I’ve done too much to _be_ Loki to back out now.”

Verity nodded and leaned back into the couch. She wasn’t sure what that meant, but she knew it was true. “So you’d actually try to make money off people hating themselves?”

“ _Profit_ ,” he corrected. “I would _profit_ off people hating themselves. They wouldn’t necessarily pay me in money. People know a lot of interesting things. They could offer favors or rare artifacts or even an introduction to someone. I’ve always fancied meeting David Bowie…”

Verity laughed and, after a moment of thought, kissed Loki on the cheek. He blinked in surprise, and then turned to smirk at her.

“I thought you were never going to ‘do kissing’ with me again,” he teased.

“Oh that was _hardly_ ‘doing kissing,’” she said, sitting back.

He put his arm over the couch again. “You might have to remind me what it was, then,” he said, leaning in close. Verity put a hand on his face and pushed him away. “Rude,” he said, his voice muffled by her hand.

“Wave hi to the cameras, Loki,” she said.

He did.

**Author's Note:**

> Unlike Loki and Tony and probably everyone else in that room, I don’t speak French. Correct me if I did it wrong! I tried to look up stuff in grammar dictionaries, but…
> 
> Also, Doom’s dialogue is hard to write, and I’m totally open to criticism on that.


End file.
